Nambucca Shire

Nambucca Shire is a local government area in the mid north coast region of New South Wales, Australia.

The Shire is located adjacent to the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line. At the last Australian Census, Nambucca Shire has a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing within its boundaries. Within the Shire's boundaries is Bowraville, one of the most socially disadvantaged areas in Australia.

The Mayor of the Nambucca Shire is Rhonda Hoban, an independent politician.^[2]

Towns and localities

Towns and localities in the Nambucca Shire are:

Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were 18,644 people in the Nambucca Shire local government area, of these 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.3% of the population, nearly treble the national average. The median age of people in the Nambucca Shire was 49 years; some twelve years higher than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 24.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 46.6% were married and 16.4% were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in the Nambucca Shire between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 1.34%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census was 4.17%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Nambucca Shire local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[3] The median weekly income for residents within the Nambucca Shire was significantly below the national average,^[1][4] being one of the factors that place parts of the Nambucca Shire in an area of social disadvantage.^[5]

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Nambucca Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 82% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 58% of all residents in the Nambucca Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was slightly higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Nambucca Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.5%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.8%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%). Of the 60 Australian residents who stated that they speak Gumbaynggir, an Australian Aboriginal language, over half live within the Nambucca Shire.^[1]

Selected historical census data for Nambucca local government area
Census year			2001[3]	2006[4]	2011[1]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	17,660	17,897	18,644
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
		% of New South Wales population			0.27%
		% of Australian population	0.09%	0.09%	0.09%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			33.4%
		English			32.6%
		Irish			8.7%
		Scottish			7.9%
		German			3.0%
Language, top responses (other than English)		German	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
		Gumbaynggir	n/c	0.1%	0.2%
		French	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%
		Dutch	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
		Italian	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Anglican	30.3%	28.1%	25.7%
		Catholic	22.1%	21.4%	21.8%
		No Religion	13.5%	17.8%	21.2%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	6.2%	5.8%	5.5%
		Uniting Church	6.8%	6.4%	5.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$296	A$377
		% of Australian median income		63.5%	65.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$562	A$853
		% of Australian median income		54.7%	57.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$642	A$700
		% of Australian median income		54.8%	56.7%

Council

Current composition and election method

Nambucca Shire Council is composed of nine Councillors, including the Mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is directly elected while the eight other Councillors are elected proportionally as one entire ward. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:^[2][6]

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:^[6]

References